As part of Red Cross Month, the Yuba County Board of Supervisors today recognized local volunteers.

We are so proud of the many volunteers who help the Gold Country Region carry out the Red Cross mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

This Native American History Month, we’re highlighting those who play a pivotal role in helping the American Red Cross accomplish its humanitarian mission every day in tribal communities across the country.

This week, we’d like to highlight Chele Rider, Red Cross Division Disaster State Relations Director in the Southwest and Rocky Mountain division.

Here is a conversation we had with her around Native American History Month and our work with tribal communities.

The global Red Cross Red Crescent network’s 2018 World Disasters Report: Leaving No One Behind spotlights the global challenges involved in delivering aid to the most vulnerable people—along with solutions to help humanitarian actors better reach communities around the world.

Imagine if your town had suffered catastrophic damage in a storm but emergency responders and aid workers couldn’t get there to help because your community wasn’t on any maps.

While this may seen strange to Westerners, it’s a real problem in other parts of the world.

To help get relief into people’s hands, the American Red Cross and partner organizations have joined with the Missing Maps project. Using OpenStreetMap, volunteers have put millions of people from high-risk countries on the map since 2014.

This makes a lifesaving difference for disaster workers combating deadly health crises like the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. And when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake ravaged parts of Nepal in 2015, volunteers worldwide sprang into action to map affected communities and roads to support relief efforts on the ground.

But much work still lies ahead to put more families in the world’s most vulnerable communities on the map—before disaster strikes.

On Thursday, November 1, Red Cross volunteers from the Gold Country Region will join with our partners at Intel in Folsom for a a Mapathon session. Our volunteers will be among about 50 people working together on the day’s mapping challenges.

You can help too! All you need is a computer and an internet connection. Volunteer at home, attend a mapathon or host one with family and friends.

Visit Missing Maps » to learn how to get started or to find a mapathon event.